


This Is Home

by sunnyskipper



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Ghost Floris | Fundy, Ghost TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Ghosts, Multiple Pronouns for Eret (Video Blogging RPF), Nihachu and Tubbo and Eret are siblings, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Title from a Cavetown Song, Tommy is left out of the family dynamic, all chapter titles are Cavetown songs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:14:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29213262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnyskipper/pseuds/sunnyskipper
Summary: Tubbo and his family move into a friendly neighborhood, the house went for cheap and their neighbors; a Father and his two boys seem sweet. He can't wait to attend school and meet his online friend, Purpled in real life, everything's going his way and there doesn't seem to be a single problem.That is, until he finds out his house is haunted by a peculiar ghost boy, and so is his neighbor's.
Relationships: Nihachu & Tubbo & Eret, No Romantic Relationship(s), Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & Phil Watson
Comments: 9
Kudos: 107





	1. Hazel

**Author's Note:**

> I'm awake again at 3am  
> My head's so tired but I dont care, no I dont  
> Outside the sky looks like it's burning down but  
> I won't fear, no I won't
> 
> Falling down like angels fighting  
> Stars and lightning hold me tightly  
> Hold me tightly
> 
> Close your blinds tonight  
> They'll soften and disperse the light and  
> If you're lucky a car might drive by  
> And the headlights fill your ceiling with shooting stars  
> Works of art  
> Waiting for your arms to part  
> And welcome in my beating heart  
> Badum, badum, badum, badum
> 
> Falling down like angels fighting  
> Stars and lightning hold me tightly  
> Falling down like angels fighting  
> Stars and lightning hold me tightly  
> Falling down like angels fighting  
> Stars and lightning hold me tightly  
> Tightly
> 
> Hold me tightly

It's a mild summer day in June, the car comes to a stop on the side of the road and Tubbo hurries to jump out, climbing over his siblings and pushing past them. He laughs as Niki lightly scolds him, he pushes open the door and his foot gets stuck at the last second, so he tumbles out of the door and crashes into the rough pavement, landing on his hands and scratching his palms.

Niki follows him and helps him to his feet, cupping his face she checks for any injuries. "Tubbo! I told you to be careful!" She gasps, seeing a bit of blood run down his chin, but it doesn't even hurt that much. She wipes the blood with her sleeve, staining the beautiful baby blue a deep red and he gently pushes her away and turns his head. 

"I'm fine, Niki!" He protests, but has to keep his hands out in front of him to maintain the distance. 

"You're literally bleeding, Tubbo!" She exclaims, as if there's blood pooling everywhere, but he's sure it's only a scratch.

Their parents and other sibling exit the car, and it locks with a beep. Having two older siblings can be a little troublesome at times, he has to admit, but they aren't too bad. It's him as the youngest at sixteen, then his older sister Niki at nineteen and his sibling Eret, who's twenty-two and goes by any pronouns. They've just arrived at their new, and hopefully permanent house on a rather peaceful looking street in Britain. The house looks a little old, honestly, but it went for surprisingly cheap and it has a certain appealing look to it. Not to mention, the local school is just a few blocks away, meaning he can ride his bike there, and a reason they're moving to this area is because his online friend, Purpled, goes to that exact school. 

"It looks a bit..." Niki trails off, walking over to Tubbo and standing beside him, she tilted her head. Tubbo followed her gaze, staring curiously at their new home, which somewhat appeared to be falling apart. No wonder it sold so cheap.

"Whoever finds the largest bedroom first gets it," Eret challenged, lightening up the mood as he always did. And who'd back down from such a compelling challenge. 

Tubbo grinned, "you're on!" He exclaimed, and without warning bolted to the house after his parents, running down the nice stone path leading to the front door. He heard Niki call out to him and laughed, ignoring her. He may be the youngest, but there's no way he's getting the smallest room. The moment the door unlocked, he rushed inside. 

A cold breeze coming from nowhere instantly hit him, and he stopped. He took in his surroundings, the floorboards creaking beneath his feet. The interior is much larger than it appeared from the outside, but at the same time it's painfully obvious how old it is. Yet it has a nice touch to its design, despite being so ancient. He tries to find the source of the freezing cold air, especially on such a hot day, but there's not even a window open. Somehow, he's so cold he's almost shivering, and as he softly exhales, he's amazed to see his breath. 

"Tubbo?" He hears Niki say, and he jumps, spinning around to face her. 

"I..." he doesn't know what just happened. Even now, the cold sensation hasn't faded but Niki appears unfazed. He can almost... feel someone's breath against his neck. 

"That room's _mine!_ " Eret announces as he runs inside, and dashes up the old, creaky staircase that sounds like it'd give in under his weight. He doesn't seem to notice, not slowing down even when he reaches the top, eager to find the room first and claim it his. 

Niki gently places a hand on Tubbo's shoulder, breaking him out of a trance. She opens her mouth to ask if he's alright, but she's cut off when Tubbo doesn't think twice before chasing after his older sibling. "Not on my watch!" He wages, hurrying up the stairs, and it held Eret fine, but for some reason just as he reached the top, the step he'd just moved off of snapped. 

This place is older than he thought. He wouldn't be surprised to come across some terrifying paintings or black and white photographs hanging up somewhere. 

"Careful!" Niki cries, though it's too late for that. If he had fallen down, it is quite the drop, but he didn't. 

He starts delving into his thoughts, forgetting he's in a race, and shakes his head to clear his mind. "You too!" He answers, not wanting her to suffer the same mishap, and turns away to continue his search. 

The house is much, much larger than he assumed, than they all did probably. It doesn't exactly look tiny from the outside, they knew it had four bedrooms, three bathrooms among other rooms, but there's a chance he could get lost in here. It's like a mansion, and maybe he's over-exaggerating a little, but it's huge in comparison to their last house. "Eret?" He has no idea where he's going, calling out to Eret only to receive no response, and figures they're playing a joke on him. 

He shakes his head, and looks around. He sighs, taking a step back, he presses himself against the wall, or so, what he thought to be a wall, but falls through a door. "Whoa!" He lands on his back with a loud, echoing thud. "Ugh..." he groans, rubbing his head and sits up. His eyes widen, noticing that he's come across a bedroom and surely, by the size of it this has to be the largest. Even if it's not, he doesn't mind having this one. 

As for appearance wise, the flooring's dark wooden vinyl in a pretty pattern and blank ceiling don't look too shabby, until he notices a crack in the ceiling peeling back to reveal dark wood. The walls are a faded green that isn't too bad, and he even has his own small fire place and there's three large, open windows connected to each other in the corner. Sure, it's more than a couple years old, and needs some fixing up, but he's willing to give it a shot. 

A loud bang came from behind him and he gasped. Whirling around, he found the door closed, when he had left it wide open. "What...?" His shoulders relaxed, and he slowly took a step forward, but then, his whole body became paralyzed. He couldn't move, and the chilling feeling from earlier returned. He could only hear utter silence, and his own breath, as he could see it in front of him again. 

There's light tapping behind him, like someone's slowly walking towards him. The hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and all the muscles in his body tense, he wants to move, he wants to run but he can't. 

"Tubbo! Where'd you go?" Eret calls out to him, and everything stops. 

A heavy weight is taken off his shoulders and he almost collapses, stumbling forward a little. Lightly swaying side to side, he brings up the courage to glance over his shoulder. All he sees are the three open windows, and he can't even feel the slightest breeze coming from outside. What just happened?

"C-coming!" He shouts a little too loud, but his heart beating inside his chest is louder. He stumbles on his feet to quickly make it to the door, and to his relief it opens and grants him freedom. He wastes no time running out, not daring to look behind him one last time and although he isn't sure where to go, he doesn't stop for even a second.

Soon enough he reunites with his siblings on the ground floor, and finally pauses to take a breather when he reaches the bottom of the stairs. He receives weird looks from his siblings. "A door closed behind me," he answers before they can even ask, sitting down on a step and running his hand through his hair. 

Eret snorts, Niki gently elbows him. A door closing behind him shouldn't be as frightening as he's making it out to be, but then again, he gets scared rather easily. Those late night ghost stories Eret used to tell him as a kid will never leave his memory.

Eret clears his throat, and judging by the smile on his lips Tubbo can guess what he's about to say. "Well, I ended up finding the largest bedroom, so I'm claiming it as mine," he announces, as if he's just won some grand prize. Niki doesn't appear too bothered, rubbing his eyes Tubbo stands up using the beam for support.

"Uh, actually," he speaks up. "I think _I_ found it," he clarifies, receiving confused looks, and he flashes a sheepish smile.

He leads them back up the staircase, careful not to break anymore steps and avoid the already broken one. It's a little confusing at first, but he eventually remembers where to go and as he gets closer, he expects the earlier sensation to return; cold, and somewhat paranoid, but he doesn't even feel a gentle breeze. They find the room, and he hesitantly pushes the door open, ready to jump out of the way, but nothing happens.

A few eyebrows are raised at his odd behaviour, Eret's the first one to step inside and take a look around. He whistles, "you're right, this has to be the biggest, but it's a little..." he trails off, his smile fading as he notices the ceiling. "It could use a bit of a make-over," he finishes with a shrug, lowering his head. 

"Everything could use a 'bit of a make-over'," Niki comments with a little laugh at the end. Eret laughs at that, his smile returning, but all Tubbo can muster is a nervous chuckle. 

It doesn't go unnoticed. Niki faces him, a concerned look on her face, "you okay, Tubbo?" She asks. If he were to respond with what genuinely happened, they wouldn't believe him, call him paranoid and leave it at that, but might give a little bit of reassurance as they head back down. He doesn't have much time to ponder on it.

"Yeah, I'm alright, just..." he doesn't finish, his eyes flickering from one corner of the room to the next as he remains outside room, just peeking around the corner. "This place kind of gives me the creeps," he answers, his nervous smile growing wider. 

Of course, it's played off, there's nothing wrong with the house asides from it's unfamiliar and old interior. 

Eret shrugs, hands on his hips. "Eh, I guess it is pretty ancient," he comments, glancing down at his feet. "You think it's old enough for a murder to have taken place?" 

Normally, Tubbo would react by stifling back a laugh and ask what made him think about that, but instead the joking suggestion increases the horrid feeling of dread. While he can't actually determine whether it's true or not, he can certainly rule out the possibility of a ghost. They don't exist, after all, no one in his family has ever encountered one before. Not even something unexplainable. 

He pushes those thoughts to the darkest corner of his mind when he hears Eret again, after he stops chuckling to himself. "Well, if you don't want this room, Tubbo, I can take it," he offers, crossing his arms he kicks a literal ball of fluff across the floor. 

"What? Nu-uh, I found it! Remember, finder's keepers?" Tubbo protests, stepping foot into the room. He can't explain why he wants to claim this deteriorating room as his own, when there's definitely better rooms he can pick from, but the words slipped out of his mouth. Eret looks a little surprised by his response, his smile faltering for a moment, but it quickly returns and he shrugs his shoulders. He walks over, and places a hand on his shoulder as he passes. 

"Alrighty then, your choice. I can help you redecorate if you want, gotta talk it out with Mum and Dad first, though," he notes, exiting the door. 

For a few moments afterwards, Tubbo stands in place without making a sound, staring at nothing in particular. He's so spaced out that he doesn't realize he's been left behind until he hears Niki's voice, clearly further away than before. "Tubbo! Mum and Dad's calling us!" 

He flinched, and bolted out the door. "Coming!"

* * *

The moving truck arrived later that day, and they were able to unpack basically everything into their new home, except for a few things they'd get sometime early tomorrow, hopefully. They all chose their rooms, and by the time they finished rearranging everything perfectly, it became night and they were told to head to bed. Tomorrow, they would introduce themselves to the neighbors, since they were too busy today to do so earlier. 

A portion of the house needed some redecorating, but they had the money. School isn't until a week later, so Tubbo has time to relax at home and get familiar with the area, but likely, he'll spend a majority of his time helping out around the house and getting everything in order. For now, he doesn't mind it too much. 

That's what he thought when he first went to bed, and he slept for roughly two hours before waking up at around one am. Though he tried to fall back asleep, and he managed to do so for half an hour or so, he found himself wide awake up past three am. The clock just hit that time, and he recalls rumors of strange things relating to the supernatural occuring around that time. 

He lied awake in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. This new area is going to be great, he's sure of it. No more moving, this is where they belong... right? 

He can hear the cars outside, zooming past, their light shines in through the window behind the curtains, briefly lighting up his room and remain for a maximum of three seconds before vanishing, and returning not long after. 

It's far from silent, every couple of minutes he can listen to the melody of the house, but it's faint. The howling wind, the creaking of wood which could simply be Niki or Eret heading down for a late night snack. There's light taps and normally, it'd terrify him and that'd be the reason he can't catch a wink of sleep, but his mind is empty of thoughts and strangely enough, it doesn't bother him.

His eyelids slowly start to close, and he's hit by a wave of tiredness. He blinks a few times, until his eyes don't open again, and he descends into a slumber. 

"Hey, wake up."

A voice whispering in his ear jolts him awake. The covers fly off him and his heart is pounding in his chest. His eyes dart around the room, but asides from his things, it's empty. Worst of all; he didn't recognize the voice.

A chilling wind breathes against his neck, and he shifts in his bed to close the windows he swore were never open, and his heart stops. 

They aren't open.


	2. Lemon Boy

Tubbo awoke to the smell of bacon and birds pecking at his window. He kept his eyes shut for just a few more minutes, rolling over and ignoring the tapping. That is, until something poked at his neck and he sat up with a fright. "What was that?!" He exclaimed, falling silent at the flapping of wings something blue crossed his vision, and a bird perched itself on his bedside table. "What...?" He turned his attention to the windows, and saw that they were somehow open. He'd closed them for sure, and there's no way for a bird to open them. Had someone else came into his room? Possibly Eret, but then why didn't he wake him up?

"Shoo, leave," he shooed the pretty bird away, sliding off his bed he followed it to the window. It flew outside to its nest dangerously perched on the wall's ledge, too far for Tubbo to reach and definitely too high from anywhere else. It had a family, too, he could hardly see the baby birds but heard them. It brought a smile to his face, but he'd much rather not have them invading his privacy or making a mess in his room. He leaned back inside and closed the windows, pulling them down. 

After decorating the room with his own personal belongings, it livened the place up a bit. He still had plenty of space leftover, considering their previous house was considerably smaller and he had the smallest room. Maybe he could convince his parents to buy him a few things, you know, as a moving gift or something along those lines. On the other hand, his parents already agreed to buying paint for him and helping him paint his room. 

The delicious smell of bacon cooking downstairs distracted him, and he hurried to get dressed. They'd be greeting the neighbours today, so he had to make himself look presentable, or his mother will demand he change and he doesn't want to navigate his way through the house to try on a different outfit. The strange layout will need some getting used to. 

He has no idea what kind of people will be living in this particular area, compared to their house, their neighbor's is a bit more modern, as well as most of the other houses on the block. It's for sure the oldest house here, which makes him wonder why it's still standing. They're stuck with the "haunted" house from those movies, except it isn't haunted. Not in the slightest. 

On the other hand, the voice he heard last night had been strange, to say the least, and unexplainable. He could cough it up to sleep deprivation, he's heard lack of sleep can cause you to see, or hear things that aren't actually there, but there were days where he stayed up later, and he wasn't even that tired. That's the only explanation, though.

He shook his head, pushing those thoughts away he quickly changed into his clothes for the day and rushed out the room. He had to find his way around to the kitchen, admittedly that was a little tricky despite being shown where it was yesterday, he'd already forgotten, and for good reason, the place is like a maze. "Hey, guys! Where are you?" He called out, reaching a standstill he found himself lost in his own house. Waiting for a response, he takes a look around. He's on the ground floor, meaning the kitchen has to be close by. 

Footsteps followed his own as he walked around, at first he brushed it off, then assumed one of his siblings were playing a prank on him. The footsteps continued and he waited for the right moment before turning around to confront the person; "aha!" He grinned, but to his confusion, he saw nobody. He swore they were right behind him, and there's nowhere for them to hide, he would've heard them if they ran off. So... where did they go?

A hand touched his shoulder, and his spirit left his body. "There you are, Tubbo," Eret greeted, though didn't receive a reply. "Tubbo...?"

"You scared me!! You almost gave me a heart attack!" He shrieked, turning around and shaking Eret by the shoulders, needing to go on his tip-toes because of their height difference. 

Eret laughed, stopping Tubbo in place with his hands on his shoulders. "Sorry, sorry! I forgot how easily scared you are," he apologized, but Tubbo could see his amused smile he tries to hide. He huffs, crossing his arms. "Are you actually lost? I mean, I know this place is kind of big."

Tubbo raises a brow, "kind of?" 

Eret chuckles, moving away. "Come on, the kitchen's right around the corner, your food's gonna get cold," he turns around and gestures for Tubbo to follow. 

Tubbo hesitated, he looked over his shoulder one last time. There's no place for someone to hide, but there had to someone behind him at some point. There were footsteps that weren't his own, and sounded so close. He genuinely assumed it'd been Niki or Eret, but apparently they're waiting for him in the kitchen, which is in the opposite direction. "Tubbo? Uh, what are you looking for?" 

"Nothing, Ranboo..." he answered quietly, tearing his eyes away from the floor behind him he trailed behind Eret.

Having a bacon and egg muffin for breakfast cheered him up, ridding him of any confusing thoughts he happily munched away at the kitchen counter. Admittedly, he ate a little too fast and almost choked up, receiving light scolding from his mother and was told to slow down. 

"Kids, you'll be saying hello to your neighbors soon. Your father and I have already spoken to them and they're quite nice, so there's no need to be afraid," their mother informed them, and he'd been wondering where that cake came from. "They even baked us a cake, shame we don't have anything to give them in return. But oh well, when you're ready, Eret will take you over."

Eret, who'd been mindlessly scrolling through his phone checking out adoption applications for dogs, perked his head up at his name and hummed, not having the faintest clue why he'd been mentioned. Both Niki and Tubbo stifled laughs at that, and their mother cleared her throat. "Eret, you'll be taking Niki and Tubbo to meet the neighbors," she repeated.

Eret nodded, slipping his phone into his pocket, already finished with his meal. "Sweet," is all he had to say, swinging on the stool he hopped off and stretched. Clearly ready to go, they had to wait for Tubbo who still needed to finish his breakfast, but instead decided to shove the remainder into his mouth. His mother tried to argue, but he jumped off, ready to leave. 

"O'hkay, 'm ready," he said, mouth full and voice muffled. Niki and their mother sighed in defeat. 

Thus, they were off to greet the neighbors, walking together in a group they discussed a variety of things. "Why is our house so... old?" Tubbo questioned, looking back at their home. He couldn't tell if it looked better, or worse after their first impressions. 

Eret half-shrugged, "maaybe it has some history to it," he offered as an explanation, but none of them were happy with that.

"But then why did it sell for so cheap? And wouldn't it tell us about it's _history?"_ Niki remarked. Eret didn't pretend to have the answer, simply shrugging his shoulders again with a "who knows". 

The house has a specific appeal to it, sure, but that doesn't it's exactly appealing, just a little fancy if it weren't so run-down and honestly, a bit creepy looking. They've already brought it, however, and so they won't be moving out anytime soon. Their parents told them that it'll just "take some getting used to" and that soon enough it won't bother them anymore. It doesn't make sense to renovate every other house on the block, except for theirs. 

The neighbor's house is a lot more modern, and nicer. He's just a little jealous, it even has a little garden in their front yard, which as they come closer, can see that there's somebody in it. A young man around Eret's age or so, with pale skin and fluffy brown hair seemingly tending to the garden, but as they reach the house they're each surprised to find him playing with a domesticated fox. Crouching down to chat with the little red fox, it even has a flower crown. "Who's my little Champion, aye? Who, who?" He babytalks the fox, which yaps and snaps at him, apparently not liking the nickname, you could say it's even embarrassed. 

It's quite the unexpected, but funny sight to come across. They all couldn't help but giggle to themselves. "Um, hello?" Eret speaks up, announcing their arrival so they quickly quiet down. The man is visibly startled by their sudden presence, falling sidewards in an attempt to stand up in a hurry. The fox laughs at him, and shakes the flower crown off his face, then snatches the man's beanie and scurries back inside the house through a doggy, or fox door built within the front door.

The man grumbles to himself, picking up his glasses and he brushes the dirt off his clothes and fixes his dark brown jacket as he gets up. "That rascal, he took my beanie!" He snaps, glaring towards the door. He has a few leaves in his hair, and they each hold back a giggle. The man sets his eyes on them, and his expression brightens, a pleasant smile crossing his face. "Oh, hello! You must be the neighbors!" He welcomes, walking over to the small front gate between them. He adjusts his crooked circle-framed glasses and extends out a hand, his palm covered in dirt unbeknownst to him. "I'm Wilbur."

"It's nice to meet you, Wilbur," Eret says, keeping his hand by his side. "I'm─"

"No, let me guess," Wilbur interrupts, gesturing with his hands he pauses. He looks to Niki, his smile returning, "you must be Niki," he says, "then you're Tubbo, and Eret," he gestures to them separately. 

Tubbo and Eret side-eye each other, then erupt into laughter they failed to contain. Wilbur stares at them, puzzled, but it clicks, and he slides his hand down his face, chuckling. "Ohh, you're Eret and you're Tubbo, sorry 'bout that," he apologizes, resting his arms on the gate.

"It's fine," Tubbo responds, scratching the back of his head and Wilbur hums. 

"So, do you guys need anything? Or are you here to introduce yourselves?" He asks, propping his head on his palms, only now noticing how filthy they are he cringes. 

"Just here to introduce ourselves," Eret tells him, leading the conversation as Tubbo admires the house, especially it's well-kept garden. There's so many gorgeous flowers and flowerbeds, accompanied by a small pond with some fish, a little stone path leading yo the house and a gate to the backyard. There's even a resting place for the fox, flat stones positioned in a decorative circle that'd be perfect for soaking up the sunlight, and some small flowers growing around it, but leaving an entrance. 

Most of all, he's interested in seeing that fox again, they'd always been a favourite for him second to bees, but he never thought he'd see one in real life, let alone a domesticated one as a pet. 

"So, have you encountered the ghost yet?" 

Wilbur's words send a chill down Tubbo's spine. He must've misheard, but the look Wilbur gives him makes him second guess. He's looking right at him, as if he specifically asked him that question, and he stammers on a reply. It takes him a moment to speak properly, leaving his siblings puzzled at his weird behaviour. He clears his throat and shows a clearly nervous smile that might look forced, "uh, no...? Ghosts don't exist."

He depises the expression Wilbur's giving him, a mixture of smug and calm as he balances his body weight on the small gate. "They don't?" He fakes a surprised reaction.

Tubbo's unusually relieved when Niki steps in, lifting a weight off his shoulders. "Why do you think there is a ghost?" She asks. He's sure none of them really believe in ghosts or any of the supernatural, although they may joke about it from time to time, to genuinely believe it without physical proof would be downright silly. None of the "evidence" he's seen are compelling or convincing in the least. Wilbur is pulling their tails, any moment know he's going to call himself out on it and laugh at how easily he fooled them. 

"Well, because it's a well-known fact in this area. My brother and I tried investigating it a few times, I'll tell you, we only got one response though," he states, leaning closer and they lean in, curiosity getting the best of him. He raises a hand, as if counting down, then whispers in a dead serious voice; "he told us to fuck off, and made the whole house shake, like an earthquake hit. I lost my balance and my hand went straight through a window, it's still there, around the back on the second floor."

They all sigh, groan and roll their eyes, disapointed with his answer, but he didn't even laugh. Wilbur took a few steps back, crossing his hands behind his head, and in that quick moment Tubbo saw his right hand palm was scarred. "It's true, that house was abandoned for years, and years before you moved in. Probably hasn't been lived in since he died," he informs.

Niki tilts her head, "but if it's so old and it's been abandoned for so long, why wasn't it renovated like every other house, or demolished?" 

Tubbo flinches at the large, wicked grin curving the corner of Wilbur's mouth, he despises the certain glint in his eye that doesn't effect anyone else. "That's because he scares them away, we've been leaving here for a while now. They've tried renovating it, couldn't sleep because of all the noise they were making, they never last more than one night there. The workers always say there's something wrong with the house, things are thrown at them, they hear a voice shouting at them in pure anger, and it doesn't help that it's pitch black and the house is practically a maze." 

Eret narrows his eyes, not looking too convinced. "Who's this "he" you keep mentioning?"

"Well, the ghost of course. Tommy,," he says it so casually, and his siblings give each other weird looks, assuming this man is either crazy, or is too desperate at this running joke. Tubbo, on the other hand, can't perfectly describe the emotion he's feeling asides from dread. Absolute dread, threads tied around his heart tightening, almost causing physical pain. "I'm genuinely surprised you haven't encountered him yet, maybe he likes your company, though I doubt it. He seems to hate everyone."

He can't make sense of why this is happening, either. He's never acknowledged ghosts before, spirit, or anything related to the supernatural. For one reason or another, this conversation is a punch in the gut. The name Tommy is unfamiliar, he's never met anybody by that name or seen it anywhere, but as soon as those words leave Wilbur's mouth Tubbo's heart wails, it breaks for a ghost that doesn't even exist, but is apparently residing in his house.

He remembers the voice he heard last night, but is unable to recall how it sounded. He subconsciously wraps his arms around himself, an actual shiver running through his body, it's a hot summer morning and he's overdressed in a long sleeve shirt if anything, but against all logic he's cold. He almost mutters "what the fuck", under his breath, he's that flabbergasted, but he's also speechless.

"Right... Wilbur, was it? It was nice meeting you, but we better head back," Niki breaks the silence with her sweet voice, music to his ears it calms him as it always has. She'd always be the one who'd calm him down whether he hurt his knee, or had a nightmare. He'd been looking forward to meeting the neighbors, but right now he'd rather go home. 

Wilbur blinks in surprise, and glances behind him for a split second before looking back at Niki. "Oh, alright then, I supposed since Techno is at work, and Phil's busy. If you want, you can meet them another time," he suggests. "If you still don't believe me about the whole ghost thing, I still have some old equipment I could lend to you so you can see for yourselves," he jokes, pointing over his shoulder, he has to be joking. 

Tubbo's had enough at that point, unintentionally backing into Eret he hopes the fear isn't too obvious. 

Eret nods, and raises a hand to wave. "Sure, we'll see you later!" He definitely takes it as a joke, judging by the bright smile he wore, he's the only one who isn't put off by Wilbur's "ghost stories". He turns away, and Tubbo moves with him, and with that they head down the path to their home.

Eret nudges Tubbo, "hey, you okay? You don't actually believe him, do you?" 

His gaze focusing on the ground beneath him as he walks at a steady pace, he's tightly gripping the ends of his sleeves. He lifts his head and flashes a small smile, "no, of course not," he says, but can't look him in the eyes. He shifts his attention to the path ahead of them, his smile instantly fading. His mind lingers on Wilbur's last sentence, about suggesting they borrow his old equipment, whatever it is. He pushes it to the darkest corner of his mind to be forgotten.

They head back inside and he lets out a sigh of relief, running a hand through his hair. From the corner of his eye he notices Niki staring at him, and he flashes her a warm smile to let her know he's alright. "I think I'm going to get changed, it's too hot today," he says, pulling at the collar of his shirt. 

"I'll ask Mum or Dad to turn on the air conditioning," Eret tells him, and making his way up the stairs, Tubbo gives him a thumbs up. He continues up the staircase, hopping over the missing step that still hasn't been fixed.

"The step still needs replacing!"

"Yeah!"

He moves away from the banister, and wanders the halls until he finds his room. Upon entering it he throws himself onto his bed, and lays on his back staring up at the blank ceiling, he can't wait to paint it, or at least fix the crack. He can see something on the wall, and squints his eyes but it's too high up to see clearly. He stands up on his bed, and he's able to tell it's writing, oddly enough, encarved into the ceiling, but he can't read it. He thinks about asking for assistance, but no one will be able to hear him. 

He jumps off the bed, and grabs the chair from his desk and stands on it. It's still not high enough, but an idea comes to mind, and he thinks it over twice before moving his chair on top of his bed, and carefully steps on it. He acts fast, running his hand over the engraved writing that's faded, but he can just make it out.

A gasp gets caught in his throat and he leans too far back. He reaches for the chandelier but his hand misses, he falls off the chair which tumbles off his bed, whereas he lands safely on his bed with a bounce. He's unharmed, but his eyes are wide in terror and his hand over his heart he can feel it pounding against his ribcage. He may be dyslexic and get words mixed up, but without a doubt, it's a name written on his ceiling that has to be a couple years old, or maybe a little older. 

The name is Tommy.


	3. Night Knuckles

Ghosts don't exist.

There's a reasonable explanation for this; maybe a boy named Tommy did live here once, and he's since passed, leaving his name encarved on the ceiling, but that doesn't mean he became a ghost after his death. Their neighbor, Wilbur, is playing a trick on them for laughs, without a doubt. He knows he's scared, or, a little wary, and is taking advantage of that for his own amusement. That's what happening, their house isn't haunted, because ghosts simply aren't real.

...Right?

Of course he's right. Shaking his head, he sighs, the knots in his muscles coming loose he sits up and slides off his bed. He needs a drink, he needs to recollect himself, he isn't thinking straight. He's feeling a little light-headed, too. He can hang out with Niki or Eret for a bit to... get his mind off this coincedence, because that's all this is. A silly little coincidence, Wilbur must have known this was here.

He exits his room and starts searching for anybody to be around. "Niki, Eret?" He calls out, checking their rooms first. He's gotten used to the layout now, the house is quite large and a little confusing he has to admit, whoever built this didn't know what they were doing, or maybe houses back in the day were just built different. He comes across Niki's room first, it's the smallest, not that she minds, it's the bedroom in the best condition. He peeks inside and she's sitting cross-legged on her bed, reading a book. 

Her room is nicely decorated, most of her things have already arrived; such as the acoustic guitar hanging up on the wall, photos of her and friends, along with silly family photos she took. There's a cold breeze that snaps Tubbo out of his thoughts and his body tenses up, but to his relief, he sees a window is opened. 

"Tubbo?" Niki says, taking out one of her earphones. 

Tubbo cracks a smile, somewhat nervously clears his throat and enters the room. "Um, hi Niki," he greets, leaning against the wall near the door, he isn't too sure what to do next. 

Niki sets her book down, pauses her music and takes out her other earphone. "Is there... anything I can help you with?" She asks, her soft-spoken tone helps Tubbo relax. His smile falls as he looks away, hesitant to reveal the truth. How is he supposed to tell her that he got spooked after some obviously fake ghost stories that so happened to make sense? Niki wouldn't have at him, but that doesn't matter. 

"Did Wilbur's joking get to you?"

He flinches. Even then, she refers to it as "jokes", no one else is affected other than him. "What? No, pfft, who would get scared by that?" He attempts to laugh it off, but can't bring himself to look her in the eyes. Staring out into the hall instead, he hears her hop off her bed and walks towards him. 

"Tubbo."

He doesn't want to look, he doesn't want to admit it. He's the youngest, he's always been viewed as the smallest and weakest, and technically that's true physically, but... 

He takes in a deep breath, balling his hands into loose fists. He turns his head, opening his mouth to speak but the words get lodged in his throat. He catches a glimpse of a glitchy figure standing behind Niki, it's there for a split second before flashing out of sight, but it resembled a human. A... ghost, it resembled a ghost.

Niki notices his reaction and glances over her shoulder, but doesn't find anything. Tubbo's head is spinning, he stumbles back and leans against the door; it swings open and his back hits the floor with a loud thud, but it barely even hurts. 

"Tubbo!" Niki cries, his back is a bit sore but that's all. His heart beat quickens and so does his breathing, propped up by his elbows he's too afraid to open his eyes and see that.... apparition again. His heart beat grows louder, more out of control by the second, louder and louder. 

Until his eyes snap open, and all he sees is a concerned Niki crouched down and offering a helping hand. He warily checks his surroundings, but there's no sign of... whatever he saw, he can hardly remember it now. It terrified him, that's for sure, coming out of the blue, it definitely wasn't Eret. It had a human's thin, tall shape, it was heavily faded; a dark grey and it glitched out of existence, standing there for no more than a second. 

He takes Niki's hand and is helped to his feet; her room is empty. Whatever that was, it's gone now... it couldn't have been human, but there's no other explanation he can think of. Unless... but no, it isn't a ghost, or any other related term. 

Then what else could it have been?

"Tubbo, hey, are you okay? What happened?" Niki brings him down to reality, hands on his shoulders. She doesn't have a clue what just happened, either, she didn't even get to see it. It stood so close behind her, yet it was seemingly fixated on him. 

"I'm fine," he chokes out, but the way his voice cracks gives it away. He gently pushes her away giving himself some room to breathe, his heart beat returns to a steady pace. "I'm... fine, I just thought I saw something out the window," he assures, flashing a strained smile his gaze flickers to the open window, the wind moving the curtains. 

Niki follows his gaze, and her eyebrows furrow in confusion. "O-oh," she removes her hands from him, turning to the window, she walks over and closes it with some struggle. "What did you see?" She asks, brushing her hands, and they're awfully dirty despite how clean the window appears. 

Tubbo doesn't have much time to think on his answer, "uh... a bird, I think it was? It went by so fast, I couldn't really tell," he quietly laughs, scratching the back of his neck. Oh, he wishes it'd just been a bird, anything plausible. 

He could have come up with something better, a bird flying past, even if it caught him off guard wouldn't startle him that much. "A... bird?" Niki softly repeats, and he doesn't understand why he's so nervous. Perhaps it's because he still can't quite believe what he saw with his own two eyes, and if he were to tell her the truth, she'd assume he's joking. 

He nods suspiciously fast, a strained smile spread across his lips. "Y-yeah!"

To his relief, Niki isn't particularly one to question things. Even so, her judging eyes upon him leaves him growing restless, but he could be overthinking things. She hums, "okay... so what did you come here for, again?" Taking her glasses off her head and sliding them on, she returns to her bed. Tubbo releases a breath he subconsciously held in when her eyes leave him, but his muscles are still tense.

His mind is clogged with endless thoughts, while at the same time he can't come up with a reasonable response in time. It doesn't help that when he does, the words are lodged in his throat, refusing to be heard. Crap. He needs to speak, now, or he'll make himself more suspicious. She can already tell something's up. "N...nothing, it's not important," is the best he can come up with, dismissively waving his hand.

"Nothing?"

He smiles with his eyes closed, hands behind his back and nods. He appears calm, whereas on the inside he continues to panic. "Yeah, sorry for bothering you! You can just forget about it," he tells her, opening his eyes he backs away. "I'm going to see what Eret is up to, know where they are?"

Niki takes a moment, she closes her book and thinks to herself briefly. "Uh, they're downstairs I'm pretty sure─" she doesn't get to finish, when she raises her head Tubbo has vanished. She didn't even hear his footsteps down the hall, she looked away for one moment and like that, he had disapeared. "T, Tubbo...?" Why was he in such a rush?

Tubbo didn't plan on finding Eret any longer, he had a different goal in mind. Hurrying down the repaired stairs, he wastes no time getting to the front door. He checks for anyone nearby, but he doesn't see anybody and sped up the pace. His heart is racing again, and his head is overrun by loud thoughts. 

Ghosts aren't real, they're tricks of the lights and illusions. So does that mean what he saw... wasn't real?

No, but although it popped up for only a second, he definitely saw it. Which means it hadn't been a ghost, then what exactly did he see?

He's outside the house, following the pavement to the neighbor's house. His thoughts came to a standstill and his feet stopped at the house's gate, he refused to lift his head. Wilbur had been joking, he'll laugh at him for believing his stories and he'll be embarrassed. On the other hand, he'll be proven right; he's overthinking things and there's no such thing as a ghost haunting their house. 

He stares into the front garden, and there's nobody there; except for the fox from earlier. It's wearing a little hat, and is staring right back at him with it's beady little black eyes. He recognizes the hat that's a bit too big for it's head; to Tubbo's disbelief, he's certain it belongs to a particular anime he can't remember the name of. Wilbur must have brought it for it, he never thought you could have foxes as pets, especially in a place like the UK. 

What was it's name again, Champion...? 

"Um, hello," he greets, as if he expects an audible response. He comes closer, and the gate pushes open; it's been left unlocked. He jumps back and the fox stands up, baring its teeth and snarling at him. Although it's a cute pet, it appears to have maintained it's territorial and predatorial instincts; at the same time, it's no different than a guard dog. Except it isn't on a chain or leash. 

"Uh, nice... fox," Tubbo isn't intending on trespassing, he closes the gate and locks it from the other side. "Just want to speak with your owner, Wilbur..." he stops himself there. What is he doing? Not only is he attempting to communicate with a fox, but the reason he's here in the first place is so he can confirm whether his house is haunted or not; which he should already know the answer to. 

This is silly, but he's here anyways. However, Wilbur isn't here, so there's no point in staying and awkwardly standing outside. He makes sure the gate is locked, and decides to head back home empty handed. He takes one step back and turns away, but that's all he manages to do. The fox starts barking and yapping out of the blue, it startles him. 

It doesn't run to the gate, just stands in place and barks at him so loudly the whole neighborhood can hear. "What did I do!!" Tubbo yells, contemplating whether he should attempt to quiet it down, or make a run for it. "Shush!! Be quiet, or you'll─"

The door swings open, an unfamiliar blonde man steps out and the fox immediately falls silent. The man exhales sharply, and shouts at the small creature; "Fundy, if you don't shut up I─" from the corner of his eye, he spots Tubbo, frozen in place with fear. His face softens and his aura drastically changes. "Oh! Hello, can I help you?" He greets, wearing a friendly smile. 

Tubbo gulps, resisting the urge to escape then and there. The fox has retreated into the house through the doggy door, sadly it's too late for him to do the same. He's literally shaking in his boots, "um... can, can I speak to Wilbur?" He asks with a trembling voice. If he were to say no, he wouldn't be mad, and would happily bolt back home. The blonde haired man is older than Wilbur, presumably his father, but Wilbur is in his twenties. Simply an older friend, perhaps?

To both his relief and the exact opposite, the man replies; "alright, I'll go get him then!" And without any hesitance, opens the front door and calls out to the said person. "Wilbur, there's a kid out here that wants to see you!" 

Tubbo can make out most of his answer; "what? You scared Fundy!" With a few inaudible words missing. 

"He was being a brat!" The man responds, referring to the fox, which Tubbo hears barking again from inside. The man closes the door as soon as it starts with a disgruntled huff. "That brat, we give him a home and everything and all he wants to do is steal stuff and cause trouble," he grumbles under his breath. 

A couple seconds later Phil steps aside and the door opens to reveal Wilbur, adjusting his glasses and fixing his hair. "Phil, who did you say is─oh," his eyes land on Tubbo and his words fall flat. He blinks, closing the door behind him he's speechless. "Tubbo, hey, can... I help you?"

There is one thing Tubbo is here for, he isn't so sure on sticking around to admit it. It's ridiculous, though if he leaves now he'll make a fool of himself, so he has no other choice. That doesn't mean he doesn't hesitate, but he forces the words out. The sooner he gets this over with, the better. "I... well... the stories about the ghost haunting our house, they were totally fake, right?" 

Wilbur and the older man, Phil, silently stare with mixed reactions. Phil elbows Wilbur, stopping him from talking and roughly grabbing him by his sweater, they turn their backs to Tubbo and hold a private conversation. He's afraid to eavesdrop, but tries to do so anyways, however he can't hear a single thing they're saying, nothing more than incoherent murmurs. 

Their discussion goes on for estimately twenty seconds, ending when Wilbur peers over his shoulder at Tubbo. He doesn't like how their eyes meet, a deep sense of regret burrows into his stomach and makes its home. Speaking of homes, he should be returning to his right about now. That seems like a good idea.

He can't move, his body has turned into a statue; he's stuck in place. Wilbur approaches, and Tubbo's mind tells him to hurry, to escape, but the connection between his mind and limbs is severed, he can't do a thing. 

Wilbur leans his arms on the fence, lowering himself to Tubbo's line of sight. He has a smile plastered across his lips, Tubbo doesn't recognize it as the same, welcoming one from earlier. It's alarming, the thoughts shouting at him to run are growing louder, they're impossible to ignore. 

"Of course, they're just stories, Tubbo. Ghosts don't really exist, after all. Don't you know?"


	4. ( Important Note )

Because as of writing this fanfic, Ranboo and Tubbo announced they are platonically married I have to do some changes to this au; such as changing Ranboo and Tubbo's relationship from brothers to next door neighbours. So, I'll have to go through a bit of editing to change it. I'm making this note so when anyone reads the next chapter and notices the change, they won't be confused. 


	5. Ghost Boys

Those words ring through his head; "ghosts don't exist", and he already figured that out. Hearing it from Wilbur made him think twice, oddly enough. It means that Wilbur had been joking all along, there's no "ghost boy" residing in their house, that's just a story he made up that Tubbo fell for. 

He should've known better.

He felt embarrassed, it was so obviously a made up story to frighten him, his siblings didn't believe it for a second. He's the gullible one. 

He returned home in a gloomy mood; which he attempted to disguise, briefly greeting Niki and Eret when he walked through the door, then retreated to his room in a hurry. Part of him was relieved hearing the news, disproving what he knew wasn't real all along, ghosts don't exist, they never have, they're just silly stories for children and gullible people, like him. No more of it, he can finally get those silly ideas out of his head and focus on other things, such as figurimg out what he wants to do with his room, and preparing for school, as his mum says. He still has plenty of time for that, though. 

From downstairs in his room, he hears his parents say they're going shopping, thus leading the three siblings on their own, and Eret as the oldest in charge. Laying on his bed, Tubbo chuckles and sits up. His eyes flicker to the name encarved on his ceiling, 'Tommy', a boy by that name did live here at some point, but not anymore. 

A knock on his door makes him jump, but it's just Niki. "Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you, Eret wanted to know if you're up for a movie," she greets, scratching the back of her neck.

Tubbo glances at the digital clock sitting on his bedside table, and raises a brow. "At twelve pm?" 

Niki crosses her arms, leaning against the doorframe. "What, are we only allowed to watch movies at night?" 

Tubbo giggles, standing up. "No, no," he answers, walking over, "but it better be a good one."

Niki quietly laughs, turning out the door. "Well we haven't picked it _yet,_ Eret also wants to know if you want takeout for lunch, or dinner."

Tubbo's eyes widen, they're allowed fast food on special occasions or once every couple of weeks or so. "Do I? Niki, that isn't even─" a heavy thud interrupts him. He freezes in place and glances over his shoulder into his room, a framed photograph fell from the fireplace. Slowly making his way over, a loose shard of glass cuts his thumb when he picks it up. "Ow!" He drops the photograph, shattering against the floor again.

"Are you okay?" Niki asks, taking Tubbo's hand in her own, the small amount of blood dripping down Tubbo's finger scares her. As if there's blood gushing out everywhere, she urgently steps back. "I'll get you a bandaid!" 

"Niki, wait, it's no big deal!" Tubbo calls out, but Niki has already left the room. Tubbo sighs, looking at his thumb, he wipes the blood off on his pants. It bleeds a little more, but the cut is small and doesn't hurt much. 

He crouches down and picks up the photograph again, careful not to injure himself. The majority of glass is on the floor, which he avoids stepping on as he sits the photograpth back on top of the fireplace. It's a family photo taken from a few years ago, they're all at a beach during the summer, he can still remember that day vividly. He built the most amazing sandcastle, only to have it knocked down by a huge wave that almost dragged him into the ocean.

The photo wasn't sitting on the edge, there's no breeze, the windows aren't even open. He doesn't understand how it would fall. 

"I'm back!" Niki announces loudly as she runs into the room, holding a single bandaid. It distracts Tubbo from the photo, turning around to face her.

"Niki, watch out! The glass!" He quickly warns, extending out his arms to stop her from coming closer. He's accidentally surrounded himself with shards of glass scattered across the floor, but he easily steps over them. They'll have to clean that up. "I'm fine, it's only a scratch," he reassures, holding out his thumb; it's started bleeding again. He ignores Niki's sassy, yet concerned expression as she wraps the bandaid around his thumb. His eyes are fixated on the closed window, the curtains still the wind taps against the glass, trying to come inside. 

"There!" Niki moves her hands away, revealing his bandaged thumb. "Now, what were you saying about takeout?" 

"I..." Tubbo trails off, the window catching his attention. One of them is lifted up ever so slightly, he wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for the gentle breeze, but there's no way you can open it without making a noise, there isn't even anyone to open it. He approaches the window with misplaced hesitance, and pulls it down. He makes a mental note about closing it.

"Tubbo?"

He looks back at Niki, an ominous silence has fallen over them. 

He breaks into a slight smile, "come on, race you downstairs!"

* * *

Curled up in the corner of the couch wrapped in a blanket whilst the sun's still shining through the windows, he eagerly waits for Eret to choose a movie. Their parents won't be gone for too long, roughly three hours maximum, and a little over one at bare minimum. It should be plenty of time to pick and watch a movie, if it weren't for the fact they've been bickering over a selection for the past half an hour.

"Come onnn, just pick one already!" Tubbo whines, snatching a pillow and holding it to his chest, resting his head upon it. His eyes are getting sore and tired from blankly staring at the tv for so long, eyes following each swipe of the screen, changing from one movie to the next. He was in the mood for adventure, action or comedy, heck, he'd watch a cartoon at this rate. Eret is the indecisive type, on one hand he wouldn't mind horror, but both Niki and Tubbo despise that genre and it's far too early. Niki has pointed out some movies they could watch, mainly light-hearted adventure and a romance, but that was definitely off the table.

"There's so many to choose from!" Eret complains, continuously pressing the right arrow button, Tubbo no longer gets the chance to read the description, let alone the title. He won't be surprised if they keep this up until mum and dad return, and one of them will end up choosing the movie. It's happened once or twice before, and it seems to be their last hope.

Tubbo is positioned rather close to the window at the front of the house, he isn't sitting right beside it, but from this angle he can clearly see through it and he notices... something peculiar. It's a fox, one that he recognizes thanks to it's unmistakable hat; it's Champion, or whatever it's name is from next door, happily trotting down the pavement. It's hard to tell whether it escaped, or was let out.

A boy comes into view, he can't get a good look at him asides from pale skin and brown hair that's swept to the side. He crouches down in front of the fox, it comes to a stop and curiously stares up at him, and part of Tubbo expects the animal to bite the boy's hand or something. Except it doesn't, just tilts it head as he assumes the boy is saying something, but he can't tell thanks to the face mask he's wearing.

"How long until mum and dad are back?" Eret pipes up.

"About one to two more hours," Niki answers. 

Tubbo returns his gaze to the front lawn, the boy has to be talking to the fox, he crouches down and tries to pet it. It's clear he isn't that familiar to the animal by how careful he is, slowly extending out his hand. Instead of biting him like Tubbo assumed would happen, the fox yoinks something from the boy's pocket, and runs off with it. He faintly hears the boy calling out; "hey! Give that back!"

Tubbo snickers to himself, overshadowed by Eret's exhausted groan. They still haven't made up their minds. Looking out the window one last time, the boy chases after the fox and goes out of sight. "Uhh..." Tubbo trails off, freeing himself from the blanket cocoon he's trapped himself in. "I'll be back, I just saw something."

"What? But what about the movie?" 

"I'll only take a minute, you haven't even found one yet!" He tells Eret, already at the front door. He's out the door before they can whine any more, closing it behind him he searches for the boy.

"Give it back! Come on, what kind of crazy person has a pet fox anyways?!" It doesn't take long to find him. He isn't far, just a short distance down the pavement to the right of Tubbo, playing tug-of-war with the fox who has something clamped in its mouth. Tubbo silently approaches, trying to identify the object. Upon further inspection it's... a white glove, on the boy's other hand is a black silk glove.

"I said─give, it, back!" 

Following one strong heave, the fox opens it's mouth and releases the glove, causing the poor boy to stumble backwards and barely managed to stable himself. Holding the saliva covered glove in his hand, he grimaces, "ugh." He wipes the slobber off on his clothes, instantly regretting it as he physically shivers. 

Tubbo gets a good look at him, he's wearing black sunglasses that blocked out the light; Tubbo can't even see his eyes through them, and a black and white face mask split down the middle. "Stupid fox..." he mumbles, and glares at the animal, which laughs at him and runs past them, in the direction of it's home. The boy heavily sighs, desperately trying to remove the disgusting saliva from his glove before slipping it back on, and then noticing Tubbo whilst he watches the fox escape. "H-hello!" He shouts out in surprise, jumping back.

Tubbo came out here for two reasons; 1) to figure out what's going on, 2) possibly help out the poor kid, but he did not brace himself for an actual conversation with the guy. He hasn't interacted with too many people in real life, due to Purpled, who he can only speak to online, being his only friend. He cracks a sheepish smile and clears his throat, "hey! Uh, is your glove... okay?"

The boy raises his hand, and they both notice the thin shreds. "Uh... no, I don't think so."

Oh well, he's lucky it isn't in pieces. "Oh... that was the neighbor's fox, I'm pretty sure, I... think it escaped?" He shrugs his shoulders, gesturing over his shoulder. The boy gives him a weird look, then something clicks.

"Ohh! You're the new neighbor, that's your house right there, right? The old, creepy-looking one." 

Tubbo follows his gaze, and deadpans as he stares at "old, creepy-looking" house. "Yeah... that's me," he grumbles. "The name's Tubbo, I'm assuming you live close by?" He holds out his hand, the boy reaches with his ruined glove, but luckily stops himself and uses his other hand. He nods, and pulling away, turns away.

"Yep, this is my house right here!" Tubbo turns in the same direction, facing the medium sized house in front of him that admittedly, is much more appealing than his; along with every other house on the block. "My name's Ranboo, by the way, it's nice to meet you." Tubbo assumes he's smiling underneath the mask, he can't even see his eyes, so he judges by the tone of his voice. 

Ranboo averts his gaze to Tubbo's house, it does look a bit eery from this angle, and brooding. He's so relieved it doesn't have the same atmosphere on the inside. "Can't believe you moved into the haunted house, have you experienced any spooky stuff yet or─" his lighthearted joking struck a nerve.

"What is it with you people and ghosts?!" Tubbo shouts, his hands balled into fists. 

Ranboo cautiously moves back, his hands out. 

"Did... someone tell you the story of─"

"Tommy? Yeah, but I'm having a hard time believeing it. I mean, the person who told me about it in the first place claimed they were flat out lies!"

"What? Well... they aren't."

"And how do you know that?"

Ranboo stops himself from continuing. What comes out instead are unintelligible mumurs as he fumbles with his hands, trying to come up with a response. It goes on for a couple of seconds, but just as Tubbo grows annoyed; "Well... Because I've lived here for a few years now. They've tried renovating the place, ghost kicked them out. Your other neighbor, Wilbur and Techno I think, went in there once to investigate, I heard the whole house shake a couple minutes earlier─I thought it was going to come down. They ran out screaming, a booming voice swept by the wind telling them to stay out."

Not only does he sound, but he appears so unsure of his himself when he says that. Tubbo gives him a dumbfounded look and he shrugged, palms up, as if he doesn't get it, either. Tubbo almost finds it funny, in a way. He snickers, "that sounds so fake," but...

Wilbur said the same thing. He and his brother, Techno went to the house with equipment and were supposedly threatened by the ghost to leave immediately. 

Ranboo contemplates for a moment, tilting his head, "so you're saying you haven't experienced anything out of the ordinary?"

Tubbo falls silent, the words stuck in his throat. He narrows his eyes, glaring at the ground. This is getting silly. "Are you... are you pulling a prank on me, too? Are you trying to trick me?" The logical answer is that Ranboo is friends with Wilbur or something, and he's in on this little running gag. 

His reaction says otherwise, his eyebrows raised. "What? N-no! I'm too terrified to go into that place! I'm, like, ninety-nine percent sure it's haunted," he assures, putting his hands up in defense. Tubbo's starting to hate how he can't see his expression.

Tubbo takes a few seconds to think, then shakes his head. "Have any proof?"

Ranboo is about to speak, but pauses. He's silent for a short amount of time, thinking. "No... but Wilbur has a bunch of ghost equipment, you know, EMF meter, that stuff? No...? Okay, I'm sure we can borrow some," he suggests, with a hint of excitement in his voice. He has to be close with Wilbur, or something. 

"He's the one who told me ghosts aren't real."

"Huh, weird, he's the one who should believe it the most."

The same thought crossing their minds, they turn their heads and gaze down the path; the red fox squeezes through the house's fence with ease, disappearing out of sight.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Tubbo mutters under his breath. He trails alongside Ranboo, the two of them making their way down the path to Wilbur's house, which, as far as Tubbo knows, he shares with his twin brother Techno and their father, Phil. Honestly, won't Wilbur tell him the same thing and send him on his way, or will he act differently because Ranboo's here? Secondly, what makes them think he'll just gladly hand over his equipment? They met like, today.

Alas, they're standing right outside his gate. "Is it..." Ranboo trails off, stopping himself short when Tubbo casually pushes open the gate, which has been left unlocked once again. The fox is sitting by the rocks, soaking up heat, it's growling at them. Admittedly, Tubbo doesn't want a fox pouncing at him, it's razor sharp teeth are very visible, and pointy. Fox bites are unsanitary, and very painful. 

Ranboo stays behind Tubbo, despite practically towering over him. They're technically entering the property, but there's no harm in knocking on the door. How else would they get their attention? Although Tubbo's still hesitant on the matter. 

The fox has other plans, barking and yapping at the two. The hat on its head takes away from the intimidation factor, and they can get Wilbur's, or somebody's attention like this. It happened last time, hopefully the fox doesn't get in too much trouble.

Having taken no more than half a step past the fence gate, they back away and close the gate. All they have to do is wait, either for the fox to tire itself out, or for someone to appear. The former seems unlikely. 

They waited for some time, the fox refusing to quiet down despite Tubbo and Ranboo staying behind the gate. There are three parked cars, however they could have walked somewhere or taken different transport. Either they're ignoring the fox, or they aren't home, and currently, the latter seems to be the case. 

"Are they... not home?" Ranboo asks, the two of them watching the fox. 

Tubbo doesn't reply, waiting for someone to walk outside and check out all the racket. One of them has to be home, surely, though as more time goes on, nothing changes. No one comes, they're left standing there awkwardly as a fox yaps at them non-stop, over and over again, it's starting to annoy him. It won't shut up, why did they get a fox in the first place? He takes back all the original awe and admiration he had for it upon first glance, it's a little shit. 

"Tubbo?"

Louder and louder, it's barks are drilling into his skull. He grits his teeth and clenches his hands into tight fists, he's had enough. "Oh, for the love of god won't you just shut─"

"Fundy! What is up with you lately? You're giving Phil and Techno a headache!" Wilbur exclaims, the door swinging open. The fox immediately shuts its mouth and sits down politely, big black eyes staring up at him innocently. It purrs as Wilbur walks over, sighing he runs a hand through his hair. 

"Um... Wilbur?" Tubbo speaks up, stopping him in his tracks. His breath hitches and his hand is frozen mid-wave, a strained smile on his face. The two of them lock eyes, and it couldn't have been a more stressful, or anxiety-inducing encounter. Wilbur appears puzzled, for the most part, looking straight through Tubbo, almost, his attention shifts to Ranboo. 

He blinks, then shakes his head and clears his throat, returning a faked smile. "Tubbo, Ranboo! What are you two doing here?" He greets.

Tubbo physically cringes, he's clearly acting different than when they first interacted and he doesn't know the reason why. It's suspicious, to say the least. 

His mind is blank, any words he wants to say will get lodged in his throat. So he nudges Ranboo, encouraging him to do the talking, and he doesn't have the choice to back out of it. "Why did you─" he meets Wilbur's gaze, and chuckles. "Heyyy, Wilbur... been a while, uh, we were wondering if we could borrow some of your... ghost equipment? Just for a little bit."

Wilbur furrows his brows, coming closer. "Why do you need my equipment?" His tone becomes stern, catching both of them off-guard. 

Ranboo chuckles, fumbling with his hands he scratches the back of his neck. Though he's wearing heavy sunglasses, he still avoids looking him in the eyes. "Because... uh, well... you see, because... ahem, uh, ghosts?" 

Without a doubt, he thinks they're crazy. He would too, to be honest. "Why would you..." he doesn't get to finish his sentence, he closes and opens his mouth, rethinking his statement. 

Tubbo takes the opportunity to speak up and finally clarify things. "Wilbur, is... is my house actually haunted? Or were you just joking?" 

Wilbur is taken aback, unable to make a sound. He checks his surroundings, it's only the three of them, the fox ran inside. His expression turns bitter, he avoids eye-contact. "And if it is?"

Tubbo gulps, clutching the insides of his pockets. "Is there... is there some way we can, communicate with them?"


End file.
